I’m expecting my second child, a girl, in April, and she’ll be half-English and half-Japanese. We already have a son named Kai, and we are trying to find a name that, like Kai’s, sounds good in both languages.

So far, they’ve come up with Sara, Ema, Naomi and Maya.

My first thought was to look for Japanese names that resemble familiar English names. Here’s what I found:

Ami, which looks like a variant of Amy.

Emi, which looks like a nickname for Emily or Emma.

Erika, which happens to match Erika.

Hana, which looks like a streamlined version of Hannah.

Kimi, which looks like it’s based on Kim.

Mari, Mariko, Marika and similar names containing Mari-, which is close to Mary.

Marina, which starts with Mari- and also happens to match Marina.

Megumi, which could be shortened to Meg.

Miki, which looks like a feminized version of Mickey.

Noa, which looks like the male name Noah…though there is a female in the Bible with the H-less version.

Suzu, Suzume, Suzuna, and other Su- names that could be shortened to Sue or Susie.

English names that are stylistically similar to Japanese names might also work well. Names like Mara, Nora, Dara, Dora, Tara, Tori and Una fit the pattern, for instance.